Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, and potentially others if they arrive. I welcome the suspension of the industrial action following the recommendations of the Labour Court earlier this week. No nurse or midwife wanted to be out on strike. They wanted to be on the job doing what they know how to do best and what they are trained very well to do. However, a combination of issues, including pay discrepancies, staffing levels, working conditions and patient safety concerns, left them in a position where they felt they had no choice. They have been raising those concerns since 2013. They raised them directly at their national conference in Cork last year. They raised them through 2018 but they were not listened to or treated with respect. Their concerns were not acted on and so it took a national strike, the second such national strike in the 100-year history of the INMO to get the Government's attention. Members of the PNA found themselves in the same position. It is welcome that they have also suspended industrial action following the Labour Court's recommendation.

As the INMO pointed out, the recommendation makes progress across all areas of concern to the nursing unions. These include safe staffing levels and addressing recruitment and retention problems. Importantly, both sides have also agreed that the resolution to this dispute must be found within the framework of the public service stability agreement.

Fianna Fáil welcomes proposals for enhanced practice in nursing and midwifery with the development of a new enhanced nurse practice salary scale. We welcome the guaranteed multi-annual funding to maintain safe staffing levels - it is critical that this happens; the increased education and training opportunities it is hoped to see; the expert review recommendation of the nursing profession to be undertaken in the medium term; and the addressing of other issues of concern to the union side as part of the resolution to this dispute.

At this point, we believe all sides to the dispute need to be given time to consider the recommendations without interference. For that reason, we will not support the motion, as it prejudges the outcome of those discussions. It seeks to influence those discussions and those discussions should be left to the INMO and PNA members and to all other groups involved. It is not for the Dáil to tell them what to do; rather, it is for the Dáil to respect their right to consider the options before them.

See this speech in context